The Railyard Local Volume 4, Issue 1 -The Monthly Newsletter of the Danbury Railway Museum- January 2005 Santa Trains a Big Attraction In This Issue Very Successful Event ~Sperry Car, Part III - page 4 The Danbury Railway Museum welcomed 2428 ~What’s Happening at the DRM - page 6 visitors to our Santa’s Special Train Rides event, which ~10 Years Ago at the DRM - page7 took place on the weekends of December 4-5th, 11-12th, plus . . . and 18-19th. Guests even came from other states to Library and Membership Updates attend. A City newspa- per featured it as A Trailer for a Yard Office an attraction. Based The DRM was fortunate to receive a construc- on this train-filling tion trailer, courtesy of Tri-County Construction. This response, we will bright yellow trailer, now in the railyard, will house continue to hold it the offices of the mechanical staff, train crew, and yard as an annual event. The colorful holi- day decorations on display throughout the Museum and railyard immedi- ately put everyone into a festive mood. Our guests bought tickets for a ride on The #1455 steam locomotive is deco- one of the two self- rated to greet our visitors. propelled Budd cars. Every half-hour, the bell in the Museum would ring to signal it was time for a volunteer greeter to escort passengers to the train for a ride to see Santa. Continued on page 7 The DRM’s new yard office. The pre-formed concrete steps are shown in place, with railings soon to be added.

Hi-Rail Truck Donated crew. It will be the base of operations for the yard per- Just arrived at theDRM - the exciting addition sonnel. The trailer has a small office on each end, and of a GMC rail flaw detection truck. It was graciously a common space in the middle. Yard records and a donated by Dapco Industries. Look for addtional volunteer logbook will be kept there. information in a future issue of The Railyard Local. A set of pre-formed stairs was graciously donated by a different source. Volunteer Bob Pitcher, who volunteers his expert welding skills, installed the wrought iron railings on the stairs. Now that service for heat has been connected, the process of moving into these new quarters can begin. It will provide a place for the yard staff to thaw out during the winter months. In hot weather, the air conditioning will give relief from the heat. Congratulations on getting your new home! New Members Library Update We are delighted to welcome our new mem- By Stan Madyda bers this month. All members are welcome to attend the weekly meetings held Wednesdays, 7:45pm, at the On November 11th, the DRM was visited by Danbury Railway Museum, 120 White Street, Terri Stramiello's history class from Western Danbury. We invite all members to become involved in State University. Each semester her stu- Museum activities as soon as possible! dents spend an hour at the DRM, touring the railyard and learning about the impact railroads have had on Peggy Connor Alice Cahn U.S. history. Her students have been continually Peter F. Morrell Joanna Tinios impressed by the DRM. Thanks to Peter McLachlan, Zendrie Smith Michael Nadler Bob Boothe, Steve Gould and Dave Lowry for helping Tommy Palmer Jill Meyer-Cocks out that afternoon. th th Ellen Crovato Jennifer Kendra On November 13 and 14 , we held a duplicate Brian Ford Vic & Yvonne Ortiz book sale in conjunction with the Brookfield Museum Stephen R. Gass Steve & Karen Miller and Historical Society at their location. We will con- Ed & Nicole Bornemann Shirley & Grant Retalick tinue to work with them on joint ventures, such as Maria & Gregg Rochman their model train exhibit in April. Marty Scatola, Bob Westerfield, Dan Foley, Peter McLachlan, Ron Smith, Gerry Herrmann and I all volunteered. Bob Brown and John Furlong from the Brookfield Museum assist- Volunteers Recognized ed us in setting up and taking down the sale. Below are just some of the books that we still By Patty Osmer have available. If you are interested in purchasing a book, please email me at [email protected]. Recognizing that our volunteers are what "make" the Danbury Railway Museum, your Board of "The Last Steam Railroad in America" by O. Winston Directors is working on a program to acknowledge vol- Link - $30 unteers for the time and service they provide to the "Classic North American Steam" by Nils Huxtable - Museum. In order to do this, we need your help! $20 If you are not currently recording your volunteer "Ulster & Delaware" by Gerald Best - $40 hours, we need you to start doing so. Not only do we "Great American Train Stations" by Hans &April want to recognize you, but many of the grants that are Halberstadt - $25 (all color book) available require us to have an accounting of volunteer "Diesel Locomotives of the New Haven" by H.F. hours. Cavanaugh - $75 (much more at train shows) Starting in January, books for recording hours "Railroad Stations" by Brian Solomon - $15 (mostly will be set up and located at the Front Desk, Gift Shop, color) Volunteer Lounge, and new Yard Office. We are asking "The Spirit of Steam" by William Withuhn - $15 every person who volunteers to be sure to record hours "America's Colorful Railroads" by Don Ball - $25 worked in the most conveniently located book. If you (reprint) can't find a book, please see Ira Pollack (Yard), Sue "Decade of the Trains" by Don Ball - $30 (black & Thomas (Events), Dave Lowry (Front Desk), Kathie Fay white, paperback) or Patty Osmer (Gift Shop), or Nancy Sniffen "The Rutland Road" by Jim Shaughnessy - $50 (1st edi- (Operations). tion) If anyone has any comments or suggestions "Model Railroading with John Allen" by Lynn Westcott regarding this program, please email me at - $37.50 [email protected], or drop a note in the Treasurer's "Treasury of Railroad Folklore" by Botkin - $10 mailbox in the Museum Office. We are counting on "Great American Rail Journeys" by John Grant - $15 everyone's participation! (companion book to PBS series) "The Putnam Division" by Dan Gallo - $15 "Rio Grande" by Beebe & Clegg - $20 "Pennsylvania Railroad" by Alexander - $18 "Vanishing Markers" by Ralph Fisher - $20 (memoirs DRM Express Track By Ira Pollack, President

I hope that the holiday season was safe and healthy for you and your family; also, that you received every present of your dreams. Now that the holiday season is behind us, it is time to start planning for the upcoming spring season. We will have many projects at the Museum, both old ones to be completed, and many new ones. I need your input, support, and help to succeed with them. Among my priorities for this coming year will be finishing the lettering on the New Haven Boxcar, and completing a cosmetic restoration of the #1402, I wish them both well in their new ventures. our RS11 diesel locomotive. As a start on this restora- I'm looking forward to an early spring, and tion, our staff has done an incredible job of repairing continuing the momentum of this past year. This has the roof onthis locomotive. I would also like us to fin- been the Museum’s most successful season ever. I am ish erecting the temporary storage shed by the fall of very proud of our volunteers’ efforts to get to this 2005. There will be other priorities that must fit in stage. between these projects. We also must keep upgrading Keep up the good work and thank you for our trackage and exhibit areas on a continuing basis. your service. In the New Year 2005, we also will be reempha- sizing the recording of the volunteered time spent on the various projects going on at the Museum. Keeping this log will be very important to us in the grant-writ- ing process. For volunteers’ convenience in recording their hours, there will be logbooks both in the station, and new yard office by the turntable. I'm sure that we'll all be quite surprised at the thousands of hours Your New Editor that we've accumulated, working to keep our Museum By Charlie Albanetti and moving forward. Peter Hanen In order to tie these hours into an incentive program, we are also in the process of beginning a This issue of The Railyard Volunteer Acknowledgement Reward Program. This is Local is the first by our new editor, a small way of showing our appreciation and grati- Carolyn Taylor. She has graciously tude for the work and hours that our volunteers have accepted the responsiblity of provid- contributed to the Museum. Everyone volunteering for ing DRM members and freinds with the Museum will be part of this new program that will an informative and entertaining publication. start within the next few months. Volunteers reaching Carolyn, a former school teacher, is currently certain designated levels of hours worked will be eligi- employed at Mamaroneck Public Library. Her life-long ble for recognition by a gift. With each increased level, love of trains has led her to become an active volun- the gift will be more substantial. I will update you and teer at the DRM, painting equipment, helping with explain the details of this program as it is developed. events, and now producing our monthly newsletter. I’d like to sincerely thank Charlie Albanetti and Peter is moving from Connecticut to warmer Peter Hanen for their service to the newsletter and to climates in Florida, while Charlie will be taking a few our Museum. Charlie will be pursuing an internship months to study in Washington, D.C. We have enjoyed out of state, and Peter has moved out of the area. They your support and compliments over the past few both will be greatly missed by our membership and months and hope you will be equally welcoming to me. Charlie, by himself, is a powerhouse of energy. He Carolyn. Thank you for the opportunity to produce has helped us considerably in advancing our advertis- your newsletter. Good Luck, Carolyn! ing program to new higher standards. Peter’s expertise in editing has enabled us to provide a quality product. Continued on page 7 Day on Board Sperry #135 Part II By Chris Locke

Continued below is the second half of the article pub- lished in the December issue of The Railyard Local.

As Milepost 342 passes your window, you press the Update Button on the Driver’s Mileage Panel. Then the computer can keep track of the car’s location, actually to within six inches. Almost as quickly as you flick on the Counter which wil record how many went to 13 mph, you hear a single Beep for Stop, and “back-ups” the car makes today. you see the Brush Carriage Lights on the Driver’s This scenario--stop - backwards - stop - hand Control Panel go out. Three Beeps now mean it’s time test - forward--repeats itself throughout the day. There to back the car up as are no trains to clear during this day, so you have just the Operator has one long day of driving. It is a relief to take a break at identified some noon for lunch, but since you’r still the Stooge on the thing for further car, you don’t get to “sit on the tape” just yet. investigation. About 4pm, the Speedometer drops back into You back up and the HI scale, the Test Carriage Lights go out, and you he stops you with a hear two Beeps. You yank the Throttle back, and the single Beep, jumps car is soon up to 50 mph. The Airfone on the wall off, and continues to rings and you answer. “We’re closer to another siding back you up with for tonight. Take us to Milepost 383 and we’ll enter the hand signals. When west end of the siding. How many back-ups?” “72,” he stops you again, you reply. We tested 20 miles of track today, and that you close athe means we can show a 20-mile runlight. Throttle, place the After a few minutes of enjoying the wind Reverser in Neutral, blowing through the Driver’s Compartment, you find and apply some the Pilot standing behind you to watch the track with brakes. These three you. You pass the east end of the siding and he says, controls are close together and can be operated simuil- “The siding is a mile long - we’ve got a ways to go taneously, allowing quick control of the movement of yet.” Coming to the west end you slow to drop him at the car. the switch. He lines up the switch and with 3 Beeps The ultrasonic Reflectoscope (a Sperry patent), for the Operator you start backing into the siding. mounted on the rear of the car and used for hand test- Then the car rolls way over as you cross the points on ing,, has a cord that is only about 6 feet long. Thus the this off-camber switch. Of course that’s a Federal car needs to be quite close to the paint spot marking the suspected rail flaw. While watching your mirror, tyhe Operator gives the “Ahead” hand signal as he climbs on. You move the car forward and see that the Bursh Carriage Lights once again indicate the test equip- ment is down on the rail and test- ing. It is truly amazing that the Rear Engine doesn’t spill it’s guts every time the rail current is turned on. The sound it makes is pure struggle. As you come up to speed, you Railroad Administration (FRA) violation but the rail- road rarely uses this siding and will simply pay the Restoring the #1402, fines when it’s inspected. As the Pilot re-aligns the switch for the main, Our RS11 Diesel Locomotive you stop the car, apply 10 lbs. of air, and set the Handbrake. You shut down the Traction Engine and Thanks to the skills and efforts of volunteers start the Night Engine, then quickly walk to the Rear Bob Pitcher and Bill Britt, the dent caving in the roof Engine Compartment. In the Test Compartment the of this locomotive was removed. They painstakingly Chief is printing the reports for the day and is very jacked out the dent from the inside, then smoothed appreciative of the quiet time. The Traction Engine has over the outside. With a coat of paint the roof will look been hammering in his ears all the day long. You as good as new. throw the Transfer Switch once again to the Night pos- titon, release the clutch of the Rear Engine, and let it idle down for 15 minutes. The turbo has to cool; other- wise the oil will sit on the bearings, and the hot turbo will cook the oil. If this happens, it will do damage to the bearings the next time the Traction Engine is run. Before the Operator and the Chief come into the Rear Engine Compartment, you sweep and mop - a chore the Assistant Operator does every day. After that you have flat tires to repair. These are the tires for They also made a welding repair in the the roller search units of the ultrasonic test equipment. engine’s side. This is the beginning of a major push to This you can do quickly, and the rest of your daily restore this RS11 as an attractive display piece. maintenance chores are soon accomplished. You make your dinner in the Kitchen, take a shower, brush teeth,

Recent Donations Through December 5, 2004, we have received $6871.68 in general contributions and $4253.76 donat- ed toward specific projects. Since our Fundraising Campaign began in 2003, with a goal of raising $30,000 toward track repair, we have received $13,270.

Recent donors include: Alain Redder Studios, William McNeill, Frank and catch a few TV shows. But bedtime can’t come Gerencir, Peter McLachlan, Russell Strilowich, Charles soon enough to insure a good night’s rest for your Bardo, Nelson Nordquist, Nels Anderson, J. Peirce kind of work. For certain, morning comes the earliest Behrendt, Theodore Cleveland, Jerry's Handyman for the Stooge on the Sperry car. Service, Boy Scouts, Richard Imperati, Robert Ebling, Ruth Fenster, Amos Hewitt, Jr, Stephen Gould, Jeffrey English, IDENIX, James Eden, Richard Moreton, Joseph Miller, Dan Carlton, Ed Blackman, Justin Chapin, Prime Collectibles, T. F. Wahl, James Stevenson, Dave Roberts. Thanks to all who have donated! A warm day What’s Happening at the DRM sandwiched in Even in the colder weather, there is alot of between cold activity, and many projects to keep our volunteers ones, is enough busy. We always need some additional hands to help. to put paint brushes in the hands of our vol- unteers. Matt Landau was one of several taking advantage of the weather to paint our equipment. He is shown put- ting a coat of hunter green on a boat dolly donated by a marina in New Fairfield, CT. This dis- play piece was once used to support and ease small marine craft on rails into the water. Now freshly The pre-formed concrete steps have been delivered by painted, it is on view in the DRM railyard. truck to the entrance of the DRM yard. They need to go in front of the yard office trailer at the back of the yard. Once again our indispensible backhoe is put to use - this time to carry and place the stairs in position for the yard trailer (see page 1). Volunteer Bob Pitcher arranged for the donation of these stairs. He, Glenn Miller, Justin Chapin, and DRM President Ira Pollack worked together to accomplish this. Joseph Grimes, who brought the stairs to DRM, is also pictured here.

This young man is giving Santa an extensive list of presents he would like to receive for the holiday. Santa is listening very intently. Our young guests also Volunteers Jeff Van Wagenen (left) and Marty received a small Grossman carefully build the framework for our new gift while aboard HO layout. The layout, located in the DRM great hall the decoration- will be complete with interactive buttons to allow visi- filled train. tors to run the trains. Look in a future issue of The Railyard Local for more information about this project. Santa Trains Attraction, continued from page 1 who was the event coordinator, and all the volunteers Members of the train crew and other volunteers wore who were instrumental in it’s success. holiday accessories, and the Budd cars also were deco- rated. Passengers were treated to a trip down the tracks in the railyard, where the train was switched to the far track for the journey to the Santa Train. There,

Santa, Mrs. Claus and elves stand ready to greet our enthu- Ten Years Ago at the DRM siastic guests on the Santa Train. By Stan Madyda guests were greeted by Mr. Frosty, elves, and, of There was no newsletter for January 1995. course, Santa and Mrs. Claus. The Santa Train was A very good article appeared in the December filled with decorations. All the children received a gift. 1994 newsletter about the loop track in Danbury, and There was an opportunity to have a photo taken with how it came to be. In 1886, the Danbury & Norwalk Santa. The joy of the passengers was contagious! RR (D&N) agreed to lease trackage rights to the Within the Museum, there were free face painting, . This would allow their through videos, and music, in addition to our year-round trains from the to reach South Norwalk and attractions. Refreshments were available. The well- Wilson's Point. However, the Housatonic RR did not stocked gift shop was busy. Most importantly, it interchange with the D&N, and therefore had to nego- tiate with New York & Railroad (NY&NE) for trackage rights. The Housatonic RR would also need to build a track crossing the NY&NE to connect with the D&N. That is how the loop track came to be built. At the time, the D&N station was located on Main Street where the Post Office stands today. Southbound trains off the Housatonic RR would cross the NY&NE onto the loop track, and then back into the station. Northbound trains would pull into the station, then back, and proceed around the loop. The Housatonic RR could have traveled down the D&N’s Hawleyville branch through Bethel to Visitors board the decorated Santa Train to meet Santa, South Norwalk. But the railroad wanted to stop at the Mrs. Claus, elves and Mr. Frosty. Main Street station for its passenger, mail and express appeared from seeing the happy faces and the com- business. The three railroads would soon become part ments from our guests that they had a wonderful time. of the New York, New Haven & Hartford Railroad, The phenomenal success of this event is a trib- and the loop track would continue to be used. ute to the many volunteers who coordinated their efforts and to their DRM spirit. It was a true DRM team-sponsored attraction. Thanks to Sue Thomas, NONPROFIT ORGANIZATION U.S. POSTAGE PAID DANBURY, CT PERMIT NO. 569

PO Box 90 Danbury, CT 06813

MUSEUM CALENDAR

Jan. 12 (7:45pm) Railroad Slides - Ron Smith Jan. 19 (7:45pm) Historic Photos - Peter McLachlan Jan. 20 (7:00pm) Board Meeting (Open to Members) Jan. 26 (7:45pm) Railroad Vacations - Ed Blackman Contact Information Jan. 29 (9-5) and DRM at Amherst Railway Society Please contact us with submissions: Jan. 30 (10-5) Hobby Show at “The Big E” Mail: The Danbury Railway Museum Feb. 2 (7:45pm) Historic Photos - Bob Gambling Attention: Newsletter PO Box 90, Danbury, CT 06813 Phone: 203.778.8337 Be sure to look for the full color version of this Fax: 203.778.1836 newsletter on our website: www.danbury.org/drm! Email: [email protected] Editor: Carolyn Taylor Printing by: Infinity Printing of Danbury Change of Address If you move, please send your change of address to: Danbury Railway Museum, Attention: Membership Chairman PO Box 90, Danbury, CT 06813 Via Email to [email protected]